Showing posts with label 1960s. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1960s. Show all posts

Friday, March 13, 2026

Friday the 13th Fun TIPPY'S FRIEND GO-GO "Egg-Head in Friday the 13th"

One of the better Archie clones of the 1960s was Tippy Teen, who had both her own book...
...and two spin-off titles featuring a Riverdale-like ensemble of supporting characters who had their own features, including Egg-Head...who was called that only because he wore glasses and looked like a nerd!
If the story doesn't make much sense, the fact it was from Tower's Tippy's Friend Go-Go #15 (1969), which was the last book of the series and the company was already winding down to close the doors a month later, might have loosened the editorial standards a tad...
You'll note the art appears exactly like the Archie Comics "house look"!
That's because the Tippy Teen books were illustrated almost entirely by moonlighting Archie artists, though which particular one did this tale is unknown!
BTW, Egg-Head was not the only Tower Comics character to bear that name!
One of the original members of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Squad (a non-superpowered backup team for the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents) was named...Egghead!


I'm not sure how "well-trained" and "highly-skilled" the "super-brilliant strategist" was since he died in his second appearance...

Friday, March 6, 2026

Friday Fun KOOKIE "Bongo & Bop...a Breather"

...so it's high (in more ways than one) time we checked in on the slackers they called "beatniks" back in the 1960s...

This never-reprinted story from Dell's Kookie #1 (1962) by writer John Stanley and artist Bill Williams was part of an attempt to produce an on-going series featuring young adults in a (then) contemporary setting.
Bongo and Bop were the slackers of the ensemble, like Dobie Gillis' Maynard G Krebs amped up to 11!
Note: this was the only time their real names (George and Robert) were ever used!
Sadly the title only lasted two issues!

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Sunday, March 1, 2026

Lunar Reading Room FOUR COLOR COMICS "Maybes About the Moon"

As the Artemis II Moon Shot is Postponed Until April...
...we're presenting a never-reprinted feature from the days before we had even landed on the moon the first time!
This never-reprinted short from Dell's Four Color Comics #1253 (aka Space Man #1) appeared in 1962, just as our Mercury space program was getting under way, so it's a lot of speculation.
Illustrated by Jack Sparling, but the writer is unknown.
BTW, even though it appeared in Four Color Comics, it's in black and white because it appeared on the inside back cover.
The inside covers of comics used to be printed with only one color, black, instead of the four colors CYANYELLOWMAGENTA, and BLACK (CYMK), that make up all the colors in standard comic printing, as a cost-saving measure!

Sunday, February 22, 2026

FLYING SAUCERS "Far Out Physical"

With all the current mishigas about UFOs/Flying Saucers...
...we thought we'd present a tale or two from the 1960s-70s comic anthologies dedicated to the topic!
You'll note that the aliens' world balloons are left blank!
Editor Don (D J) Arneson wrote all the stories in the four-issue run of Dell's Flying Saucers.
He also made sure the various artists presented a fairly-consistent "look" to the aliens.
(Note: the series ran five issues, but the fifth was a reprint of #1)
In the case of this tale from #1 (1967), Sam Glanzman brought his realistic, natural style to a story using many of the already-established elements of UFO lore.
Trivia: Both Dell and Gold Key produced anthology comics about alien visitors and their kitchenware-shaped vessels during this period.
Gold Key's UFO: Flying Saucers ran for twenty five issues, changing the title to UFO and Outer Space as of #14!

Friday, February 20, 2026

Friday Fun ROWAN & MARTIN'S LAUGH IN "Five Year Plan for the Moon" & "...as Used by Our Astronaughts in Space!"

Though largely-forgotten today...
Wraparound cover of #12
Artist Unknown
...this 1960s comedy-variety TV series was ground-breaking in a number of ways.
Besides the show's anti-Establishment content, which was always a source of contention with NBC network censors, it had an amazing amount of tie-in merchandise...including a MAD-style magazine!
In 1969, with the first Moon landing about to occur, the mag took a couple of looks at the space program...
...and...
By the time these features appeared in the final issue of Laufer Publishing's Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (#12 in 1969), the use of images of the actual performers from the show had been reduced to the cover and a couple of one-pagers based on long-running gags like the "Flying Fickle Finger of Fate Award".
Laufer Publishing was best-known for the legendary 1960s-70s teen magazine Tiger Beat!

Here's a Kool video about the magazine, which Baby Boomers remember fondly!

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Wednesday, February 18, 2026

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder RAUMPATROUILLE "Dance!"

While there are many similarities between Space Patrol and Star Trek...
...the one big difference I've seen commented upon over and over again is...
...the dance numbers that occur in almost every episode.
The closest thing I've ever seen on American sci-fi tv was in the pilots for Battlestar Galactica (1978) and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979).
However, Raumpatrouille had their own ongoing choreographer, William Milié, to compose the funky dance numbers that appeared in the background of each episode!

Wednesday, February 11, 2026

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder RAUMPATROUILLE "Invasion" (It's the same in English and German!)

These guys are smiling right now...
...but not for long, as we reach the apocalyptic series finale (yes, finale)!
The energy-based aliens known as "Frogs" make their move against Earth, using traitors from within to disable Space Command!
It's all-out war, and you, space cadets have a ringside seat!
Enjoy!
Note: We've tried to embed the English subtitles, but if they don't come up automatically, go to the "gear" icon on the lower right of the video screen, and set them manually.)
We'll be back next week with a detailed look at some of the unique aspects of the series.

Wednesday, February 4, 2026

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder RAUMPATROUILLE "Die Raumfalle" (Space Trap)

 Welcome to the penultimate episode of 1960s' Germany's counterpoint to Star Trek...

...as the crew of the Orion is assigned to attempt to prove the theory that life on Earth originated in outer space.
Sounds sedate, eh?
Mix in a passenger who happens to be a science-fiction writer seeking inspiration for his next novel, a stopover at a penal colony, plus a mad scientist who tries to hijack the ship, and you get a space opera episode jam-packed with thrills, including a climactic fight scene involving the whole crew vs hijackers (with the women kicking ass)!
Note: We've tried to embed the English subtitles, but if they don't come up automatically, go to the "gear" icon on the lower right of the video screen, and set them manually.)

Sunday, February 1, 2026

In February, TRUE LOVE COMICS TALES Goes MOD...

...with tales from a Never-Reprinted 1960s Comic Magazine...

...not  a Comic Book !
Western's Mod Love (1967) was a magazine-sized 50¢ multi-color publication with all material written by Michael Lutin and illustrated by already-noted graphic artist Michael Quarez who went total "pop art", with one important difference!
Unlike most "pop art" visualizers (including myself) who used exaggerated dot screens to mimic Roy Lichtenstein's pseudo-pop art work...
...Quarez used only solid colors in his work, creating incredibly-vivid visuals, such as this two-page spread about hot, hot hot fashion boutique Tiger Morse's!
We ran the stories over a decade ago with scans we found on the Internet, but since acquiring a copy of this very-hard-to-find publication, we've remastered them from scratch and will present them on three of the four Wednesdays in February!
But, on the second week of February, aka Valentine's Day Week, we're paying tribute to the creators of the romance comics genre, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, with a special never-reprinted, cover-featured, Valentine's Day tale from Young Love!
(And yes, that's a very young Robert Redford, during his male model period, on the cover!)

Wednesday, January 28, 2026

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder RAUMPATROUILLE "Kampf um die Sonne" (Battle for the Sun)

We've seen sci-fi tropes like evil aliens, psycho robots, and wandering planets...
...now we confront two topics once considerered sci-fi, but are now part of daily life in the 21st century: global warming (bad) and feminism/women's rights (good), but told from a 1960s perspective!
Plus, you get to see how "James T Kirk-ish" Commander MacLaine is with a hot alien woman!
Note: We've tried to embed the English subtitles, but if they don't come up automatically, go to the "gear" icon on the lower right, and set them manually.)
More 60s sci-fi next Wednesday!

Friday, January 23, 2026

Friday Fun JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY "Comic Strip!"

Did a Comic Strip Creative Ever Hold the Power of Life or Death...

...over everyone around him, or was this just a power-trip fantasy of writer Stan Lee and/or artist Steve Ditko?




Regrettably, we can't ask either of the creatives of this story from Marvel's Journey into Mystery #81 (1962), as they've both passsed beyond this mortal coil!
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Wednesday, January 21, 2026

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder RAUMPATROUILLE "Deserteure" (Deserters)

Buckle up, space cadets, as we rejoin the reckless crew of the SpaceShip Orion!
McLane is given a super-weapon called "OverKill" that he's to install on Earth outposts, but the Frogs can now mind-control humans...including the Orion's crew.
Will the space fleet have to destroy the Orion to keep OverKill out of the Frogs' possession?
Note: We've tried to embed the English subtitles, but if they don't come up automtaically, go to the "gear" icon on the lower right, and set them manually.)
Be here next Wednesday for another astounding adventure!

Sunday, January 18, 2026

Because Tomorrow is Dr Martin Luther King Jr Day...MAD "Stokley and Bess"

Before we begin the re-presentation of this never-reprinted tale adapting...
...I sincerely suggest anybody under 45 check out the links to these people...
and this musical...
...before proceeding.
I'll take it as given that even the youngest among you know who Malcolm X, Dr Martin Luther King, Jr and Muhammad Ali/Cassius Clay are...
Is there a reason this particular tale by writer Larry Siegel and illustrator Mort Drucker from MAD #111 (1967) has never been reprinted?
Was it controversial?
Did it generate too much negative reader response?
One thing's for sure...it wouldn't be done in today's cultural climate!
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(note: requires region-free DVD player since it's an import disc)
The movie's NEVER been released in the US on DVD or BluRay!
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